


The Terrible Teething

by navree



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, and then cry like snicket when I realize I can't, basically I try to write like snicket, but here have this!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-26 16:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13861650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navree/pseuds/navree
Summary: Babies  who are teething often cry and scream, because it is a very painful time for them, and they have yet to learn to communicate with words or even a series of unintelligible shrieks, so they cry to make others aware of their suffering.Violet and Klaus try their best to comfort their distressed baby sister.





	The Terrible Teething

**Author's Note:**

> requested on tumblr at http://navree.tumblr.com/post/171500259758/for-the-asoue-fic-prompts-sunny-is-upset-violet  
> All I have to say here is that I tried my best to mimic the narration style, but I'm no Daniel Handler, so you'll just have to put up with my sad attempt. On the plus side, it was nice to write something fairly lighthearted for a fandom with so dastardly a premise!  
> as always, comments (either positive or constructive) are always welcome and much appreciated!

It is a very well known fact of life that the sound of a child crying can raise very mixed emotions in people, largely depending on when and where the child is at the time. For instance, if you are at the beach and hear a child crying, particularly a baby, you may feel bad for them, as they are clearly in some form of distress **_(_** and there are many ways a beach can cause distress, from sand in one’s food to salt water up one’s nose to the arrival of unexpected and uninvited castaways from a nearby shipwreck **_)_**. However, if you are in a cramped space which you cannot leave **_(_** such as an elevator or a car or a piano **_)_** , and are stuck with the crying child for the entire length of time, you may be less charitable towards the young one, and construct elaborate scenarios in your head in which the baby stops its infernal racket and leaves you to plot your escape in peace and quiet.

For the Baudelaire family, they were almost always upset upon hearing a baby cry. Not just because the sound is naturally unpleasant, and oftentimes very loud, but because the Baudelaires were naturally empathetic people, and hated to hear the sound of other humans’ suffering. The phrase empathetic people here means ‘people who care for others to such a degree that they oftentimes feel their emotions by proxy due to the amount of care they feel’. Which is why, in the absence of their parents, Violet and Klaus Baudelaire took it upon themselves to comfort their teething baby sister Sunny.

You likely know what teething is, even if you cannot recall the process yourself. It fortunately happens very young, and the pain of having bones push through thin, sensitive flesh is often forgotten by the time a child learns to speak. Teething was especially painful for Sunny Baudelaire, given the natural size and sharpness of her teeth, and so she was crying and screaming as she had never cried and screamed before. Babies who are teething often cry and scream, because it is a very painful time for them, and they have yet to learn to communicate with words or even a series of unintelligible shrieks, so they cry to make others aware of their suffering.

Violet and Klaus were very much aware of Sunny’s suffering, because for the past several minutes now neither a bottle nor a pacifier nor an ice cube could comfort her. She had, at least, taken to the ice cubes, but continued to cry anyway, often letting each one fall out of her mouth and onto the floor. Violet, as the eldest, had the privilege of carrying Sunny and rocking her as she shrieked, while Klaus was the one delegated to picking up the fallen ice cubes and putting them in the kitchen sink.

“Perhaps she’s really sick,” Violet proposed, feeling Sunny’s forehead to test if it was worrying warm. She was red, but that was due to her fussing.

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s just teething.” Klaus had read many books on infant mannerisms and care in the period of time between now and his decision to love Sunny. Teething was one of the oft mentioned thing in these books. "Mother and Father said this was around the age when it started to happen anyway." 

"Well, how do we stop her from screaming?" It was a combination of both Violet's natural empathy and the natural reaction anyone has to a crying and screaming baby that was causing her to become distressed as well. If she suddenly found herself incapable of human speech, Violet supposed it would not be long before she was crying and screaming as well. She looked frazzled, with flyaway wisps of hair escaping from her ribbon, which she had tied around her hair when she and Klaus first heard Sunny begin to fuss. Klaus pushed his glasses up his nose, grabbing Sunny another ice cube from the ice cube tray and sticking it into her wide open mouth. Sunny sucked on it for a whole five seconds before beginning to cry again, the ice cube falling to the ground as was to be expected **_(_** the phrase as was to be expected here means 'as she had done for the past several minutes' **_)_**. 

"I've read that the trick is to get babies to focus on something other than their pain," he said. "Perhaps I could try making a funny face to make her laugh?" 

"It's as good a guess as any," Violet told him. Klaus pulled down on his ears and stuck his tongue out. This did not distract Sunny from her crying endeavors in the slightest, though she did pull an odd face, which could either have meant that she was confused by Klaus's attempt at humor, or passing gas. He stopped pulling down on his ears and put his tongue back in his mouth. "Perhaps we should just wait until Mother and Father come back," Violet suggested. Klaus shook his head. 

"That could be hours," he reminded her. "Father said they were off to a very far reaching discussion," here his voice deepened in an imitation of Betrand's, "And might not be back for quite some time." 

"You're right." Still rocking the crying Sunny absentmindedly, Violet began humming softly, not even realizing she was doing it. They were simple notes, high and clear, as humming does not require that much natural ability to sing. As if responding to Violet's humming, Sunny's screaming because less shrill. Her older sister barely even registered it, but Klaus did. 

"Excuse me Violet, but what's that your singing?" Violet did not stop rocking Sunny, but she did cease humming for a while. 

"It's something I remember Mother singing to both me and you, and what I heard her singing to Sunny last week," she explained. "I think it's a lullaby, but I've never heard it anywhere else." Violet was correct that she had never heard it anywhere else other than the Baudelaire mansion, because this particular song **_(_** which was indeed a lullaby **_)_** was an original lyrical invention of her mother's. In fact, the lullaby was not originally a lullaby at all, but rather a poem written by the Baudelaire's mother that she was required to put to music as part of a clever scheme that had involved the use of two hand held cameras, an eagle quill, and a beluga whale. The tune had been her own invention, and she had begun singing it to Violet when she had an unfortunate kidney infection as an infant, and then later to Klaus when he'd knocked himself to the ground running into a footstool **_(_** which also served as the first of many instances that would lead his parents to realize he may need glasses **_)_**. 

"Sing it again," Klaus said excitedly, noticing Sunny begin to calm down. "I think she likes it." Violet did just that, rocking her baby sister gently in her arms and humming the notes. Klaus joined in soon after, since, as previously stated, it was a simple lullaby and thus very easy to pick up. Sunny's screaming and crying eventually subsided, and the hectic spots of red on her tear stained cheeks faded, and when Klaus put yet another ice cube in her mouth **_(_** he and his older sister still humming **_)_** , this time it stayed in until it had melted completely to water, which Sunny then swallowed. 

"She's quiet," Violet whispered, stopping the lullaby briefly. Klaus experimentally wagged his finger close to Sunny, to see whether that would set her off. Instead, Sunny did what most infants do when presented with anything, and grabbed Klaus's finger in her tiny baby fist, waving it in the air like a small, fleshy sword. The elder Baudelaire siblings laughed softly, and Sunny even blessed them with a tiny baby giggle. 

Violet and Klaus continued to hum the lullaby, although as Violet's feet became more and more tired from standing she sat down on the couch, Klaus dutifully next to her and Sunny still cradled in her arms. When the Baudelaire parents came back from the very far reaching discussion, they discovered all three of their children on the couch, sleeping, Klaus's head on Violet's shoulder and Sunny snuggled against Violet's chest. 

From then on, it was easier to calm Sunny Baudelaire down when teething or generally upset by humming a simple lullaby. 


End file.
